Method for making artists&#39; canvas panels



July 29. 1952 S. M. SILVER METHOD FOR MAKING ARTISTS CANVAS PANELS Original Filed Nov. 10, 1947 FIG. 3

IN VENTOR. S t on-flSi lv er Patented July 29, 1952 METHOD FOR MAKING ARTISTS CANVAS PANELS Stan M. Silver, New York, N. Y., assignor to Master Technique Board 00., N ewYork, N. Y.

Original application November 10,1947, Serial No. 785,004, now Patent No. 2,470,416, dated May 17, 1949. Divided and this application May 1949, Serial No. 93,283

The present invention relates to methods for producing canvas panels for artists use of the type described and claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 785,004, filed November 10, 1947 which has matured into Patent No. 2A7 0,416 on May 17, 1949, and the instant application is a division of the said co-pending application.

The artists canvas panel of my invention has been made with the idea of affording artists a canvas panel embodying all the advantages of both two previous known devices, to wit, what is known as a canvas stretcher and what is known as a canvas panel or canvas-board panel.

Canvas stretchers, several kinds of which are known, afford the artist a perfect working surface, due to the slight give of the stretched canvas under pressure of the brush. Such advantags is balanced, however, by the fact that many types of canvas stretchers are apt to warp and lose-their shape to become unfit for use. Another disadvantage may be summed up by pointing out that the relatively high cost of a well made and dependable stretcher, as compared to a canvas board panel is as great as four to'one. A lesser disadvantage of a canvas stretcher is its weight and bulk. Its bulk does not permit it to be carried, assembled, in a paint box; the artist having to stretch the canvas in the field, with considerable loss of painting time and effort. Also, after the canvas is painted, it must be carried carefully, to avoid smudging and cannot be inserted into the grooves generally provided in paint boxes for canvas board panels.

Further disadvantages of canvas stretchers are that their bulk makes it diflicult to carry more than one at a time and that they present difficulties in stretching the canvas thereon uniformly or to the proper tension and that, occasionally, excess pressure may result in thebreaking or cracking of the stretcher 'or the tearing of. the

canvas.

The canvas board panel came into existence to afford the amateur artist a ready-to-paint canvas surface, at low cost to bring it within the purchasing range of the majority of the painting public, and in compact form.

The principal objections to canvas board panels are that they are easily subject to severe warping; they present a rigid painting surface which responds sluggishly to the brush; .and they may be readily dog-eared at the corners and otherwise damaged during handling or if dropped.

The canvas panel of the present invention is characterized by an appearance somewhat similar to the conventional canvas board panel and, while possibly of slightly higher cost than the 8 Claims. (01. 1549-116) canvas board panel, has the advantageous features of being compact and light in Weight and capable of being conveniently carried in the slots of the paint box, and of presenting a highly taut 'ready-to-paint canvas surface which is even superior in sensitivity of response to the paint brush than that of the conventionally stretched canvas, and of being immune to warping and to ready damage or dog-caring.

A feature of the invention is the methods by which the panels of the invention may be produced which are simple and easy to practice; which may be practiced with great economies of time, labor and materials; which do not require any specially built or complicated machinery; which are capable of mass production; and which are highly effective for the purpose of producing the'canvas panels of the characteristics pointed out above,

The methods of the present invention will be come readily comprehensible to any one skilled in the art from the description following, particularly when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment of an artists canvas panel of the present invention, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of the painting side ofa canvas panel of the invention, partly broken away to show details of assembly;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the back or reverse side of the canvas panel, likewise partly broken and in section to showdetails of assembly,.with the outline of theoriginal shape of the canvas blank shown in broken lines; and

'Figr3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3-3 ofFig. 2.

Referring more specifically to the accompanying drawings, the canvas panel of the present invention is formed, essentially, of a continuous rigid frame, Hlfand of .a sheet or blank of canvas, I I, whose edges encompass the frame Ill.

The "frame ii! may be formed of any suitable material of suflicient rigidity to withstand the tension of a tautly stretched canvas thereon, such as of heavy gauge rigid steel or other metallic wire, or of synthetic plastic material of round or other cross section, and may be of rectangular or any other conventional shape, with the ends of the wire or the like forming it preferably secured to one another as by welding, soldering, or the like.

' The blank ll may be formed of any canvas or the like having a surface suitable for receiving oil paint or the like on it, and may be made of a length and width greater than the length and width of the frame iii,sufiicient.to provide a mardrying and shrinking process.

ginal portion [2, on all sides of the frame I0, adequate to cover the frame and overlap it. Preferably, the length of the blank I I may be cut from thielength o'fthefabric from which it is taken.

After the canvas blank II is formed, a thin layer or coat 13, of a flexible glue, preferablya flexible animal glue and preferably in hot state,

is applied to the entire reverse or non painted side of the canvas II, and the canvas blank is then allowed to stand until. the coatingof glue [3 becomes tacky. The frame I is then positioned centrally of the blank I I, on its coated side, with the length of the frame along the length of the blank, and the marginal portions I2 of the blank then folded over the sides of the frame and against the coated side of the blank II, to completely enclose the frame sides. The marginal edge I2 is then smoothed out and pushed or tucked flush-against the frame sides, as illustrated in Fig. 3, by a suitable sharp tool.

It may here be'stated that the marginal portion "l2 may, if desired, be skived before the )7 application of the glue coating 13, for smoother finish, and that, for the'same purpose, the corners of the canvas ll may be slit or formed with a dart, in a manner readily understood and not thought necessary to be specifically illustrated.

While the frame ll) maybe placed directly upon-the coated side of the canvas II, as described above, it has been found preferable to prepare a thin paper or cardboard. sheet .or tag l5,---of the same size and outline as the frame Land-set that sheet first on the coated center of the canvas ll, wipe it to eliminate any posapplied to the back of the panel, against the back ofthe i tag l5 and over'the marginal portions I2 of bthe canvas H, between the sides of the frame 10, to provide a smooth, finished appearance for the back of the panel'and to give more body-to the'painting area :of the canvas panel.

Panels, when completed-as above, may then be-stacked, preferably between heavy sheets of cardboard or the like,.for several days to allow 'them .to be-dried and shrunk; the boards be- -'tween the panels preventing any possible disfiguration and twisting :or buckling during the The possibility of distortion and buckling is also reduced by the practice described of cutting the canvas blank 'H with i ts length along the'length' of the material from which it 'is' taken and of arranging the lengthof the frame along the length of the blank, whereby the directionlof greatest shrinkage, "which is along the length is resisted by the strongest or mostrigid side of the frame,

which is'its width or 'the'shortest frame sides.

This completes the description of the methods for making the artists canvas panels of the present invention. 'It willbe readily apparent that-such methods are simple to practice; that they require 'no special or costly machinery, tools fications and variations in the methods of the present invention may be made by any one skilled in the art, in accordance with the principles of the invention hereinabove set forth and without the use of any inventive ingenuity. I desire, therefore, to be protected'for any andall such modifications and variations that-may be made within the spirit of the present invention and the scope of the claims hereto appended.

WhatIclaim is:

1. The method of making a canvas panel of the type comprising a sheet of canvas having embedded therein a skeletal polygonal frame which involves applying said frame fiatwisely against an adhesively coated side of a flatly disposed sheet of canvas, said sheet, being cut so as to have a marginal length thereof projected beyond each side of the latter when the frame is substantially centered against said, sheet, the frame being thus centered in applying it to the sheet as aforesaid; laying the marginal lengths as flaps over the sides of the frame pressing the flaps down against the back of said sheet; and then treating said sheet to shrink the same.

2. The method of forming an artistscanvas panel comprising the steps of forming a continuous rigid frame, preparing a .canvas sheet of greater width and length than said frame, applying a coat of a flexible adhesive over the entire area of one side of said canvas sheet, arranging the said frame substantially centrally on the coated side of said canvas sheet, folding the projecting marginal portions of said canvas sheet over the sides of said frame and against the coated side of the said canvas sheet and then drying and shrinking the said canvas sheet.

3. The method of forming an artists canvas panel comprising the steps of forming a continuous rigid frame, preparing a canvas sheet of greater width and length than said frame, applying a coat of a hot adhesive which is flexible when dried over the entire area of one side of said canvas sheet, arranging the said frame substantially centrally on the coated side of said canvas sheet, folding the projecting marginal edges of said canvas sheet over and against the sides of the said frame and against the coated side of the said canvas sheet and then drying and shrinking the said canvas sheet.

4. .The method of forming an 'artists canvas panel, comprising the steps of forming a continuous rigid frame, preparing a canvas sheet of greater width and length than said frame, applying a coat of a hot, flexible animal adhesive overthe entire areaof one side of said canvas sheet, arranging the said frame substantially centrally on the coated side of said canvas sheet,

folding the projecting marginal edges of said canvas sheet over and against the sides of the said frame and against the coated side of the said canvas sheet and then drying and shrinking the said canvas sheet.

5. The method of forming an artists canvas panel, comprising'the steps of forming a metal wire frame of continuous character,-preparing a canvas sheet of greater length and width than said frame, applying a coat of a'hot, flexible adhesive over the entire area of one side of said sheet, arranging the said frame substantially centrally on the saidcoated side of said canvas sheet, folding'theprojecting marginal edges of said sheet and. adhesively securing them over and against the sides of the said frame and the coated side of said sheet and then drying and shrinking the said canvas sheet under 'flatly applied pressure.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein-the ends 0f the wire forming the frame are connected to one another.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the adhesive utilized is an animal glue.

3. The method of forming an artists canvas panel, comprising the steps of forming a continuous metal Wire frame, preparing a canvas sheet of greater length and width than said frame, preparing a thin cardboard tag sheet of the same shape and size as the said frame, applying a hot, flexible adhesive coating to the entire area of one side of said sheet, adhesively securing the said tag centrally on the coated side of said sheet, arranging the said frame on the said tag sheet, folding the projecting portions 5 STAN M. SILVER. 20

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 39,632 Collins Aug. 25, 1863 217,797 Kellogg July 22, 1879 685,511 Gardner Oct. 29, 1901 1,530,547 Curioni Mar. 24, 1925 2,359,347 Woodman Oct. 3, 1944 2,370,874 Playford Mar. 6, 1945 2,470,416 Silver May 17, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 125,972 Austria Dec. 28, 1931 

1. THE METHOD OF MAKING A CANVAS PANEL OF THE TYPE COMPRISING A SHEET OF CANVAS HAVING EMBEDDED THEREIN A SKELETAL POLYGONAL FRAME WHICH INVOLVES APPLYING SAID FRAME FLATWISELY AGAINST AN ADHESIVELY COATED SIDE OF A FLATLY DISPOSED SHEET OF CANVAS, SAID SHEET BEING CUT SO AS TO HAVE A MARGINAL LENGTH THEREFOR PROJECTED BEYON EACH SIDE OF THE LATTER WHEN THE FRAME IS SUBSTANTIALLY CENTERED AGAINST SAID SHEET, THE FRAME BEING THUS CENTERED IN APPLYING IT TO THE SHEET AS AFORESAID; LAYING THE MARGINAL LENGTHS AS FLAPS OVER THE SIDES OF THE FRAME PRESSING THE 